Single Market Programme 2021-2027
DG Competition (DG COMP) operates a grants programme dedicated to the training of national judges in EU competition law under the Competition policy part of the Single Market Programme (SMP Competition) which focuses on making the internal market more effective, including through enhanced competition policy. Under this strand, calls for proposal are launched in the area of EU competition law training. Action grants are awarded to support and promote judicial training with a view to foster a common legal and judicial culture of competition law.
The objective of this programme is to co-finance projects aiming to train national judges in the context of enforcing European competition rules. This includes public and private enforcement of both the Antitrust rules and the State aid rules, thereby increasing the knowledge and know-how of national judges. The final aim is to ensure a coherent and consistent application of EU competition law by national courts.
These objectives can best be achieved through projects which specifically focus on the role of national judges in the application of EU competition law, their particular needs and work environments and pre-existing training and knowledge.
Call for proposals:
Should you have any query in relation to training of judges in EU competition law, COMP-TRAINING-JUDGES
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (contact us).
Justice Programme 2014 -2020
The Training of national judges on EU competition law was part of the Justice Programme 2014 -2020, contributing to support and promote judicial training, including language training on legal terminology, with a view to fostering a common legal and judicial culture.
Under the last programming period (2014-2020) 56 projects have been co-financed, involving approximately 3200 national judges. See more information on awarded grants.
DG COMP also provided targeted training activities to National Judges via a service contract with the Academy of European Law - ERA. Download all training materials (including the e-presentations) in a wide range of languages.
Upcoming events, actions and trainings for judges
Title: Competition Lab for Judges
Organisers: Hungarian Competition Authority and OECD-GVH Regional Centre for Competition.
Place: Budapest, Hungary
Dates: May/November 2026, May/November 2027 (more information on upcoming events are available here).
Content: Four 2-day seminars focused on competition law enforcement, covering some of the most controversial topics that deserve deep reflection relevant for judicial review of competition decisions. The topics are the following: cartels, cooperation agreements between competitors, abuse of dominance, vertical agreements and vertical restraints.
Audience: national judges, prosecutors and apprentice national judges dealing with competition law issues in one of the Member States of the European Union, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Language: English
Title: SUNAJUST – Supporting National Judges on State Aid
Organisers: Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Place: Various (see also the project website)
Dates: various until June 2027 (see also the project website)
Content: Notion of State aid ex Article 107(1) TFEU, the concept of an undertaking, the standstill obligation ex Article 108(3) TFEU, the concept of new and unlawful aid, the notification procedures, the role of the European Commission as public enforcer of EU State aid law, the concept of de minimis aid, the exceptions to the obligation to notify new aid to the Commission, the role of national courts as enforcers of the EU State aid rules, the cooperation tools provided by EU law to assist national courts in fulfilling this role, and the State aid Modernisation programme of the Commission. (see also the project website)
Audience: National judges from the 27 EU Member States, as well as to judges of third countries that participate in the Single Market Programme (SMP), namely Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
Language: English
Title: ENTraNCE for Judges 2026
Organisers: European University Institute (EUI)
Place: Florence, Italy
Dates: 2026 (see project website)
Content: ENTraNCE 2026 provides 30 national judges from eligible countries with advanced and hands-on training on recent developments on the Interplay between Competition Law and Regulation in Digital Markets, covering both cross-cutting legal and economic concepts (e.g., market definition and market power assessment, enforcement coordination mechanisms) and the recent case law and decisional practice regarding digital markets.
Audience: National judges from the 27 EU Member States
Language: English
For more information about events organised with the Association of European Competition Law Judges (AECLJ), please see here.